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APN Commends Senators for Supporting "Tenacious" U.S. Leadership on Mideast Peace

32 U.S. Senators led by Senator Diane Feinstein (D-CA) sent a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton before her upcoming Mideast visit...
"Americans for Peace Now has rallied support for the letter initiated by Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.)" writes JTA in  "Dovish groups back Feinstein peace letter"


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - February 27, 2009

CONTACT:  Ori Nir - (202) 728-1893

Washington, D.C. - Americans for Peace Now (APN) today commended the 32 U.S. Senators led by Senator Diane Feinstein (D-CA) who sent a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, urging her to use her upcoming Mideast visit to underscore her personal commitment to achieving peace between Israel and the Palestinians. The letter asserts that the current instability in the region underscores "the importance of tenacious American leadership and engagement."

"As Secretary Clinton travels for the first time to the region as America's chief diplomat, carrying the President's new Middle East agenda, it is imperative that she has strong congressional backing. This expression of support from Capitol Hill will support the Secretary - as well as President Obama and his Mideast envoy George Mitchell - in asserting their role as honest brokers of peace between Israel and its neighbors," said Debra DeLee, APN's president and CEO. "We salute Senator Feinstein for her leadership and for her ongoing efforts to advance Middle East peace."

APN, a Jewish, Zionist organization dedicated to enhancing Israel's security through peace and to supporting the Israeli Peace Now movement, strongly supported the Feinstein letter and worked closely with Senators' offices to urge Senators to sign. APN also issued an action alert, urging its supporters to ask their senators to sign on to the letter.  

Here is the full text of the letter, followed by a list of the signatories:

Dear Secretary Clinton:

We are writing to applaud your decision to travel to Israel and the West Bank next week. Your trip sends another important signal of the Obama Administration's seriousness about dealing with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Last month, while announcing Senator Mitchell's appointment as Special Middle East Peace Envoy, President Obama stated that "It will be the policy of my administration to actively and aggressively seek a lasting peace between Israel and the Palestinians, as well as Israel and its Arab neighbors."

At that same ceremony, you expressed your own commitment to Israel-Palestinian peace, noting that Senator Mitchell's mission will be to "lead our efforts to reinvigorate the process for achieving peace between Israel and its neighbors... [to] help us to develop an integrated strategy that defends the security of Israel, works to bring an end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that will result in two states, living side by side in peace and security, and to achieve further agreements to promote peace and security between Israel and its Arab neighbors" and "to support the objectives that the President and I believe are critical and pressing in Gaza, to develop a program for humanitarian aid and eventual reconstruction, working with the Palestinian Authority and Israel on behalf of those objectives."

We commend both you and President Obama for these statements and we urge you to use your upcoming visit to Israel and the West Bank to underscore your personal commitment, and that of President Obama, to Israel's security and to achieving Israeli-Palestinian peace. Both are vital U.S. national security interests that must not be neglected. The continuing launching of rockets from Gaza into Israel, the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, and the ongoing challenge of formalizing an Israel-Hamas truce, underscore the importance of tenacious American leadership and engagement, now and in the future.

Diane Feinstein (D-CA); Daniel Akaka (D-HI); Mark Begich (D-AK); Kit Bond (R-MO); Sherrod Brown (D-OH); Richard Burr (R-NC); Maria Cantwell (D-WA); Benjamin Cardin (D-MD); Thomas Carper (D-DE); Robert Casey (D-PA); Susan Collins (R-ME); Christopher Dodd (D-CT); Byron Dorgan (D-ND); Richard Durbin (D-IL); Russell Feingold (D-WI); Tom Harkin (D-IA); Amy Klobuchar (D-MN); Mary Landrieu (D-LA); Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ); Carl Levin (D-MI); Jeff Merkley (D-OR); Patty Murray (D-WA); Ben Nelson (D-NE); John Rockefeller (D-WV); Olympia Snowe (R-ME); Arlen Specter (R-PA); Jon Tester (D-MT); David Vitter (R-LA); George Voinovich (R-OH); Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI); Ron Wyden (D-OR)